


Words of Love

by AnotherSandersFander



Series: Love and Sanders Sides [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Growing Up Together, Kid Fic, M/M, very angsty beginning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:55:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherSandersFander/pseuds/AnotherSandersFander
Summary: Companion piece to Waiting For Love.This is a soulmate AU where writing on one's body appears on their soulmate's starting at age six, starring Roman and Virgil!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Series: Love and Sanders Sides [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610614
Comments: 47
Kudos: 131





	1. Bravery Before Age Six

**Author's Note:**

> ***************************CONTENT WARNING: We're off to a very angsty start, but much of this angst will be left behind in this first chapter. We've got alt-right/xenophobic language, drug selling and drug use, child neglect and abuse, gun violence and death, and depictions of a panic attack
> 
> PLEASE call me out if I've missed anything triggering or should add these to the fic's tags.

Virgil taught himself to read and write using his parents’ numerous tattoos. By the time Kindergarten started he could spell FUCK THE POLICE and WHITE POWER and the dozen other phrases that littered both their bodies. Mommy and Daddy swapped out who had to painfully get the tattoo and who had to pay for it when the ink appeared on their skins. When he found his soulmate, Virgil wanted to get tattoos just like Mommy’s and Daddy’s. He especially wanted MY HEART MY SOUL on his chest, right over his heart. Mommy and Daddy were so brave that they weren’t scared of the needle anymore. Virgil wanted to be that brave, that cool. His parents were very cool. That’s why they blew off Meet the Teacher Day or forgot to walk him to the bus stop. They were too busy being cool in the garage, making cool white stuff to sell to all their cool friends.

Sometimes they tried the cool stuff in the living room. Sometimes Daddy got mean. Sometimes Mommy locked Virgil in the closet. Sometimes he missed school or had an accident because Mommy and Daddy fell asleep and forgot to let him out first. It wasn’t so bad, though. Virgil started swiping picture books from school like Mommy swiped lipstick from the store, and he hid them in the closet to read when Mommy and Daddy got mad. He was reading a really pretty one about a tiger, tiger, burning bright when the yelling started.

“POLICE! OPEN UP!” It sounded like it was coming from outside the house.

“Fucking shit!” Mommy shouted. “Get up Phil, we’re busted!”

“Oh no we ain’t!” Daddy yelled. “No commie deep state’s taking me out! Take this!”

“You expect me to shoot this thing?!” Mommy sounded scared.

“OPEN UP! POLICE!”

“You wanna go to jail again?” Daddy asked.

“WE HAVE A WARRANT, WE’RE COMING INSIDE!”

“Oh fuck—”

“Phillip and Kayla Sullivan, you are under—”

“Eat lead, asshole—”

“Drop you weapon—”

POW—

POW POW POW!

“PHIL!” Mommy shrieked.

“WE NEED A MEDIC, OFFICER DOWN!”

“It’s just my shoulder, get one for the perp—"

“Phil!”

“Kayla Sullivan, you are under arrest—”

“Fuck you, my soulmate’s dead because of you pigs!”

“Mommy?” Virgil didn’t realize he was crying until he heard it in his voice.

“Holy- Is there a kid in there?!”

“Fuck you—”

“IS THERE A KID IN THERE?!”

“YES!” Virgil shouted.

His mommy made an awful noise. “I told you to stay quiet! I told you to shut up—”

Virgil couldn’t hear anymore, the world had gotten too loud. And too bright. And too tight. He couldn’t take a deep breath, he couldn’t think, the only thing he could do was feel scared. And he was very scared.

“Just focus on me, Sweetie,” said a lady’s voice. “It’s all going to be okay, just focus on me.”

Virgil tried.

The lady was pretty. She had her hair pulled back in a low ponytail and she was wearing latex gloves. “Breathe in for me Sweetie.”

Virgil breathed in.

The lady smiled. “That’s great, Sweetie, now let me count one, two, three, four and breathe out.”

Virgil breathed out. The closet wasn’t too tight anymore. When had Mommy opened the closet? Who was this lady with gloves on?

“Okay, I’m going to pick you up now Sweetie,” said the lady, gently carrying Virgil out of the closet and the house.

“Where’s my Mommy?” Virgil hiccupped as he spoke, trying very hard to be brave for this nice lady.

She patted his back and held him a little tighter. “I’m sorry Sweetie, your Mommy can’t be with you right now. But I know a very nice man who’s going to make sure you’re safe, okay?”

Virgil started to cry again. He was hungry and damp and this nice lady wasn’t very nice if she wasn’t taking him to his Mommy.

“Hi there,” a big man greeted, taking Virgil from the lady’s arms into his own. “Are you Virgil Sullivan?”

“Uh huh,” was all Virgil could say through his tears.

“My name’s Mr. Dylan and I’m going to help you find some foster parents,” said Mr. Dylan, balancing Virgil against his hip. “Do you know what a foster parent is?”

Virgil shook his head.

“A foster parent is like a for-now parent,” Mr. Dylan explained. “Your Mommy can’t take care of you right now, so it’s my job to find you new parents just for right now. Does that sound good?”

“Uh huh,” Virgil hiccupped again.

Mr. Dylan deftly maneuvered the little boy into a car seat and fastened the seatbelt before he asked, “So when’s your birthday, Virgil? Are you excited to write to your soulmate?”

Virgil wiped away his snotty tears on his sleeve. “The fourteenth,” he told Mr. Dylan, trying to be brave again. “Mommy and Daddy were gonna buy me markers.”

“Don’t worry Virgil, we’ll make sure you have a good birthday,” Mr. Dylan promised, doing up own seatbelt in the driver’s seat. 

“Will Mommy and Daddy be there?” Virgil asked.

Mr. Dylan sighed. “No Virgil, I’m sorry. I’ll have a counselor explain it to you back at the office.”

“Okay” he nodded. Virgil would have to be very brave indeed.


	2. Words of Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***************************CONTENT WARNING: Talk of parents dying

Roman was not a patient little boy, and he was about to lose his mind waiting for his soulmate to write to him. Remus’s soulmate wrote to him right on their birthday and he was a big kid no less. If Roman’s soulmate was a little kid and his twin’s was a big kid that would be the worst. Mommy and Momma tried to tell him it could take years to write to his soulmate. Years! What a terrible thought.

Luckily his poor heart was spared in the middle of November, in the middle of art class. Roman watched as a little purple family formed on his right arm. Below the sloppy figures was a name:

Virgil

He had never grabbed a marker so fast, scribbling back on his left arm:

Hi Virgil!   
Imm Roman

The writing appeared on his right arm and his left-handed soulmate wrote back:

Hi Roman   
Its nicce to meaet yuu   
2 day is my birff day

Roman was so excited he could hardly keep his pen steady to reply:

Happppy birff dae Virgil!  
Mi birff day was last munff

Virgil drew a little cake and scrawled out:

Happy beelatod birff day Roman

I luve yuu

With no patience at all Roman scribbled out:

I luvve yuu too!

And he spent the rest of the day drawing back and forth with his new soulmate. Roman ran up the steps to the family apartment that afternoon, Remus shouting after him to slow down but he couldn’t. “Momma!” he shouted, flying through the door to his mother’s makeshift bed on the couch. “Momma my soulmate writed to me!”

“How exciting!” Momma coughed as she spoke, and the day nurse Miss Tracy fluffed her pillows. “Let me see those pretty drawings.”

“What’s their name?” asked Miss Tracy.

“Virgil!” Roman announced. “Look he drew me a cake ‘cause he missed my birthday, see?! Virgil’s a good drawer, see?”

“Yes he is,” Momma agreed, struggling to sit up. She had gotten so weak since she got sick. Miss Tracy helped as much as she could. 

Roman’s face fell as he watched the women shift so many pillows to keep Momma’s head up. “Momma when will you get better?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Remus agreed. “I thought you weren’t s’pposed to be sick if you were coming home again.”

Momma smiled her prettiest smile. “Oh my poor boys,” she cooed, a hand on both their shoulders. “I’m afraid I’m not getting any better. I left the hospital to spend more time with you, what time I have left.”

Remus screwed up his face just like Mommy did when she was thinking. “Will you be sick forever?”

“No boys,” said Mommy, standing at front door in her scrubs. She had tears in her eyes. “Do you remember in the Lion King, how Mufasa passed away?”

The boys nodded slowly.

“Momma’s going to pass away,” Momma told them, tears in her eyes too. “But just like Mufasa is always with Simba, I’ll always be with you. All of you.”

The tears in Mommy’s eyes started to fall, and she flung herself at the foot of Momma’s makeshift bed. Miss Tracy shifted awkwardly and finally declared, “Why don’t I make you boys a snack in the kitchen?”

Remus trudged on behind Miss Tracy, but Roman went to their bedroom instead. He grabbed a runny old marker and wrote to his soulmate:

My Momma is dyein

Purple marker replied:

Imm sorry   
Mi Daddy dyd too   
I watcched hym go inntoo the grownd   
Mommy didnt go becuz shez inn prison

Roman wasn’t sure whether he wanted to hug Virgil or wanted Virgil to hug him, but he drew a big heart just the same. Around it he wrote:

Imm sorry Virgil

Dyein is harrd

Virgil’s purple marker crossed it out and sloppily corrected:

Livin is harrder

“Roman! Pizza rolls!” his brother shouted from the kitchen.

“Coming!” Roman hollered back. First he wrote once again:

I luve yuu Virgil

And Virgil scribbled back:

I luvv yuu tooo Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This going to be the general tone as compared to the first chapter. Thank you for reading and remember to call me out if I've missed anything that warrants a warning or a tag.


	3. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****************************CONTENT WARNING: homophobic slurs, panic attacks
> 
> Please do yell at me if I've missed anything that warrants a tag

Virgil saw his mother only once, in January, with a sheet of glass and a telephone in between them. He’d tried to compliment Mommy on her bright orange clothes, but that only made her mad. “Fuck you,” she’d said. “I got half a dozen extra charges because of you, ya little weasel.”

“I’m sorry Mommy,” was all Virgil could think to say.

Mommy huffed a great sigh and shook her head. “It ain’t right for a kid to be here,” she told him. “Virge, I know I’m not a great mom, but I know this ain’t it. Would you hate me if I gave you up?”

“Gave me up?” Virgil didn’t know what she was talking about anymore.

“If I let you be adopted,” his mother tried to explain. “You wouldn’t be my little guy anymore, you’d have a better shot out there.”

“Adopted by who?” Virgil had been through three sets of for-now foster parents already, but he hadn’t told Mommy that.

“By whoever wants you!” Mommy insisted. “I bet they’d buy you lots more toys and books and shit.”

“Oh.” Virgil didn’t want more toys. Maybe more books. Mostly he wanted a hug.

Mommy laughed to herself, “Maybe you’d get adopted by some of those fashion fags and get all swanked up.”

“Fags?”

“Y’know, dudes with dude soulmates?”

“Like me and Roman?” Virgil asked.

“Who the fuck is Roman?” Mommy furrowed her brow.

Her little guy rolled up his sleeve to reveal a purple prince and a red prince scrawled on his forearm, surrounded by dozens of lopsided hearts. “He’s my soulmate.”

Mommy whistled low. “You’re lucky your Daddy’s not alive to see that.”

Virgil squirmed in his seat. Daddy had been pretty scary, but it was rude to speak ill of the dead. Instead he told her, “Roman’s Momma died too, right after Thanksgiving. His Mommy was real sad, sadder than Roman and his brother.”

His mother shook her head again. “You really know how to pick ‘em, don’t you kid?”

“Nobody picks their soulmate,” Virgil reminded her.

“But I can pick you,” said Mommy. “Ain’t that a trip?”

Virgil wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, but still he asked, “Will you pick me?”

“Babes, I’ll be in here until you’re twenty-one at least,” Mommy tried to explain. “I can’t let you rot in the system while I rot in here, it ain’t fair. If I sign away my rights, you can have a real life.”

“What if I don’t want a real life?” Virgil sputtered through fat sobs. “What if I just want you?”

Mommy pressed her hand to the glass, the closest she could reach to comfort him. “You can’t have me, not while the law says so. I’m a shit mom anyway—”

“But you’re MY mom!” Virgil shouted into the phone, banging his little fist on the rotten, treacherous glass. “And I’m YOUR little guy! We’re supposed to be a family!”

“We’re not a family!” Mommy hissed. “Not without your dad and not while I’m behind fucking bars! You’re better off with no family than having one this fucked up.”

Virgil pressed his own hand against the glass, against his mother’s. “But I love you.”

Mommy sighed again. Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly she took her hand away from the glass. “Love ain’t enough, little guy. I’m sorry.”

And suddenly Virgil couldn’t hear again. He couldn’t see because the room couldn’t stop spinning. His ears rang with POW POW POWs and his legs felt weightless, untethered to the seat he had only just occupied. He must’ve fallen asleep, because the next thing he recognized were his blankets back at the group home.

He never visited his mother again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to update once a week but the new semester has just started so I suppose we'll have to see. Once again, please call me out if I've missed anything that needs tagging. Comments are appreciated (and technically birthed this fic!) so feel free to share your thoughts.


	4. Smarty Pants

Roman’s spelling improved as he started second grade, and he enjoyed smuggling his vocab words into his notes to Virgil. His soulmate always complimented how smart he was or how pretty his penmanship had become. Somewhere out in the wide world was a place called Foster Care, and being there meant Virgil never went to the same school twice. It was in this way that Virgil found so many books and poems to share and recommend. Roman wasn’t much of a reader when reward stickers weren’t involved, but he sometimes humored his beloved and sought one out of the dinky school library. Most of the books there were badly mangled, but the Children’s Poetry Collection seemed spared out of neglect.

“Are you a poet yourself?” asked old Mrs. Debois, the school librarian.

“No, but my soulmate is,” Roman replied, baring his forearm to reveal a little drawing of a raven and the words:

Back when you tald me befour  
I thot you lyed for shore  
But now I see what you meent,  
That our time together was spent  
And so it saddens me to my core  
That you and the raven sayd “Nevermore.”

“Oh my,” said Mrs. Debois. “That’s very clever. I didn’t know second graders read The Raven.”

Roman puffed up with pride. “Virgil reads for fun. He says Edgar Alan Poe is his favorite even though he’s scary, because it makes him feel brave to read it.”

He had expected her to coo and compliment him again, but Mrs. Debois was squinting at her computer screen. “Which LeRoi are you, dear?” she asked. “It says here one of you had your library card revoked for the rest of the year.”

“That’s Remus,” Roman explained, shaking his head. “He said he was sorry, though.”

“Sorry doesn’t replace missing pages,” Mrs. Debois said coldly. “Are you Roman or Remus?”

“Roman, Ma’am,” he mumbled. “Mrs. Smithings can tell us apart, if you want to make sure.”

“That’s alright, dear,” the librarian replied, much more gently than before. “You enjoy your poems, alright?”

“Poems, eh?” Mrs. Smithings was hovering behind him now. She turned to Mrs. Debois and said, “I heard the usual twin confusion, and I just wanted to vouch for Roman here. He’s one of the best students in my class.”

“Thank you,” Roman blushed. She was his favorite teacher by far, though he only had three to compare.

“Say, would you like to read one aloud for Show and Tell next week?” Mrs. Smithings asked. “I’ll give you an extra reward point for the school store, for practicing your reading skills.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” he crowed, forgetting they were in the library. He quickly remembered and apologized to Mrs. Debois, barely above a whisper, “Oops, sorry.”

Mrs. Debois smiled and was about to reply when a crash sounded in the hallway.

“I DIDN’T DO IT!” Remus’s voice insisted. He wasn’t allowed in the library anymore and was supposed to be coloring a picture out there.

Both teachers sighed. “Duty calls,” said Mrs. Smithings, excusing herself to whatever was in the hall with Remus.

“How you two are even related I’ll never know,” Mrs. Debois shook her head.

Roman never knew what to say when Remus got in trouble. His Mommy would say things like, “Is this about Momma?” and “You can’t keep doing this, Remus!” The teachers would all joke with him “How is it you two look so alike and act so different?” or “At least now there’s a way to tell you apart!” But Roman was always left speechless, unsure what to say or who to defend. His brother wasn’t a bad kid, not really. 

His book checked out, Roman sat down at the activities table and grabbed a red marker. He wrote:

Remus got in trooble again

On the opposite arm Virgil offered:

I’m sorry  
I kno it makes you sad  
Maybe he’ll grow out of it?

Roman sighed as he replied:

Maybe  
I wish I cood help him without getting in trouble too

Virgil excitedly scribbled back:

Maybe you are helping  
You can be a good eX am pull  
Maybe Remus cood copy you and get better.

Roman smiled as he wrote:

Good idea, Smarty Pants.

He felt much better after that. It was nice to have such a good listener only a penstroke away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was sad so I didn't want to leave it on its own. Have another. Love you all!


	5. Finding a Family

Virgil wouldn’t say he hated Find A Family Day, not outright. He just couldn’t handle the noise and the rowdiness and the strangers sweeping through the place like it was a goddamn department store and surely their perfect child was somewhere in the back. It probably didn’t help that his first Find A Family Day resulted in what his therapist called a panic attack. Virgil had survived his second and third by hiding in the closet, and he had every intention to do the same for his fourth. He’d swiped some juice boxes and a pack of cheezits at breakfast time, before any potential parents could arrive, and was already hunkered down with a flashlight and a good book when something- someone- broke away from his routine.

A man and woman crept inside the bedroom, shutting the door behind them. “It’s alright,” the man assured the lady, guiding her to sit down on the furthest bunk.

Virgil watched curiously from his hiding spot in the closet as the woman let out a ragged breath. “There’s so many of them,” she sputtered. “I didn’t know there’d be so many of them.” She raised a hand as if to tug at her afro but the man stopped her.

“We don’t have to choose today,” he told her gently. “It takes about a month to finalize the paperwork anyway. We can take our time.”

“But I don’t want to take our time!” the woman sobbed. “I wanted to give you a family, Bryan you deserve a family!”

The man, Bryan, shushed her as he rubbed her shoulders. “Dana, Dana, calm down Sweetheart.”

Dana only cried harder.

From his corner, Virgil could see a box of tissues shoved under one of the beds. He tentatively grabbed it, stood up from his hiding place, and started to walk the tissues to the crying lady.

Bryan saw him first, but it was Dana who said, “Oh, gosh, I’m sorry little guy. I’m a mess today, you shouldn’t have to see that.”

“It’s okay,” Virgil assured her, offering his little box. “We all have bad days.”

“Yeah we do,” Dana laughed, smiling through her tears as she took the much-needed tissues. “What’s your name little guy?”

“Virgil,” he replied, staring hard at his shabby sneakers.

“I’m Dana,” the woman introduced herself, “and this is my soulmate Bryan.”

“Why aren’t you playing with the others, Virgil?” asked Bryan.

“I don’t like the noise,” Virgil confessed. “Loud noises scare me sometimes and I get panic attacks or flashbacks or whatever.”

“That’s okay,” said Dana, calming herself at last. “What were you doing in here, to keep away from the noise?”

Virgil pointed towards his nook in the closet as he explained, “Reading. I like poems and stuff.”

“I like poems too,” Dana agreed. “I teach Poetry and Literature at the local high school. Have you read Emily Dickinson?”

“I love Emily Dickinson,” Virgil beamed. “My favorite is Because I Could Not Stop for Death.”

“Really?” Bryan asked, his eyebrows waggling. “That’s a little depressing isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s sad but it’s also reassuring,” Virgil tried to justify himself. “Like, the way I see it Death’s carriage has been riding around forever and will always be riding, that’s why the horse is headed for Eternity with a capital E. Death is as much a part of life as going to school, it’s a constant that will always be there.”

Dana and Bryan looked a bit shocked for a moment, eyes darting to each other before Dana laughed outright. “If only I could get my students so invested!” she crowed.

“Virgil, are you up for adoption?” asked Bryan.

“Bryan!” his soulmate hissed.

Virgil went back to staring at his shoelaces. “You wouldn’t want me,” he said slowly. “My dad was mean to people like- to people of color. Dr. Aberforth says I’m doing a good job unlearning some of that stuff, or at least learning what’s a swearword. I’ve hurt people’s feelings before on accident, saying what my dad taught me to say. I don’t want to hurt you, Miss Dana.”

“Virgil, you could never hurt me,” Dana assured him, taking his little hand in hers. The richness of her skin made Virgil’s seem even more pale by comparison. “You’re right that hate is something you can learn and unlearn, and it’s clear you’re trying to unlearn it. I’d love to help you on this journey Virgil.”

“And me too, little buddy,” Bryan promised. “What do you say?”

Virgil smiled. “I guess I really did find a family today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! Sorry this update is so late, the semester is in full swing and I'm trying to actually do my homework this time around. Anyhow, don't forget to call me out if I've missed any relevant triggers or content warnings. Comments are appreciated also. Thank you!


	6. An End to Boredom

Roman would’ve been bored, if life with Remus could ever be considered boring. His brother seemed a magnet for trouble of all kinds, especially big trouble. The food fight was very big trouble, which is why Principal Figgins called their mother to the office at one and had been shouting ever since. It was now well past three, and poor Roman was stuck outside with the secretaries because he wasn’t old enough to go home and wait by himself. He was about to start recounting the paint strokes on the walls when a new kid walked. “Hi,” his mother greeted the still dozing secretary. “We’re the Garcias. You said on the phone there’d be some paperwork to fill out?”

“Have a seat,” said Mrs. Standish, handing off a large stack of papers.

The father and son stood awkwardly for a moment, before the man put on that trying voice grown-ups use to sound unthreatening and said, “Hi there! What’s your name?”

“Roman Leroi,” he greeted, for the new kid’s sake.

“Nice to meet you Roman,” the man replied. “I’m Bryan, and this is Virgil.”

The pale boy blinked at him, then pulled up the left sleeve of his jacket. Roman’s stars from art class stared back at him on the other boy’s skin. “You’re my Virgil,” Roman realized, pulling up his sleeve to reveal twin marks. “You’re my soulmate.”

Bryan gasped. He might’ve said something too, but Roman wasn’t paying attention. He only cared that Virgil was smiling at him, still quiet as a church mouse and blushing up a storm. Someone started cooing around them, but all that mattered was Virgil’s giggling in response. He looked so cute when he was embarrassed. Roman thought he’d look cute doing anything.

“I’m glad I finally met you,” Virgil confessed, barely above a whisper. “I’ve been missing you.”

Roman smiled. “How can you miss someone you’ve never met?”

“It’s like forgetting the name of your favorite song,” his soulmate explained, still almost too soft to be heard. “You know the tune, but you can’t guess what’s missing until you hear it.”

“I guess I missed you too,” Roman agreed, “I just didn’t know it yet.”

The door clicked open behind them and Principal Figgins let out a dejected sigh. “One more incident, Mrs. LeRoi, just one more and I have to suspend him.”

“Trust me, there won’t be any more,” Roman’s mother promised.

“Who’s this?” asked Remus, eager to shake off the attention.

“Mom, Remus, meet my soulmate,” Roman beamed.

Virgil timidly waved hello.

Remus tackle hugged him to the floor. “You’re Virgil, you’re really him, this is so cool I can finally see you!”

“Remus get off him!” his mother screeched. 

“I’m okay,” Virgil assured her. “It’s nice to meet you too Remus.”

The adults continued to fret over them, but their worrying went largely ignored. “We’re gonna be best friends, us three,” Remus declared as he helped the other boy up. “You’re my brother’s soulmate but he’s my brother, so it’s my job to make sure you’re nice to him.”

“He’s plenty nice to me,” Roman insisted. “He writes me poems and stuff.”

“I’ll be nice, I promise,” Virgil said seriously. “You can beat me up if I’m not.”

Remus blinked, and Roman knew he hadn’t expected such passivity. Then he smiled and slapped an arm around Virgil’s shoulder. “You’re alright, you know that? You’ll fit right in.”

“Yeah he will,” Roman agreed. “I’ll make sure of it.” And as the three of them started to laugh Roman knew he wouldn’t be bored any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to drop a Roman chapter too, just to be fair, and to apologize for not posting in two weeks. I hope their meet-cute is pleasantly adorable. Again, call me out if I've missed a warning, but comments and critique are also appreciated. 
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day!


	7. Changes

Virgil never knew a year could change so much. Last year had even changed his name as Virgil Sullivan the foster kid became Virgil Garcia, one of a jaunty clan of Garcia cousins who had welcomed him with open arms. More open arms were found at his new school where Roman and his popularity rubbed off excellently. His soulmate had even persuaded him to join the stage crew, and Virgil had to admit how much he enjoyed wearing so much black. It was his first time backstage at yet another bi-monthly Musical Showcase rehearsal that Virgil remembered again how beautifully his life had worked out. 

He didn’t have long to ponder before Roman came bounding offstage to whisper, “How did I do?”

“Sorry,” Virgil confessed, “I wasn’t paying attention.”

Roman made an offended noise but couldn’t offer a retort before Mrs. Crawford shouted “Quiet in the wings!” from her post in the audience. This elicited all manner of whispers backstage, and Roman began in a particularly loud stage whisper, “What were you doing then, if you weren’t paying attention to me?”

“I was fixing my poem,” Virgil explained softly. “I changed a couple words around for the meter’s sake.”

“I liked it the way it was at lunchtime,” Roman teased, rolling up his sleeve to read the amended lines:

If e’er I had been told a day would come  
Wherein my darkened clouds would part,  
I would have laughed full loud and sent you home  
Assured no change in my sad world could start.  
For my life was so monochrome and dull,  
And Fortune never smiled upon my brow,  
That Time to me seemed one unending haul  
And lonesome was the road I had to hoe.  
But O, WHAT CHANGE that trickster Fate has made!  
The Moon and Stars alight my life from high  
Above me with the Sun to guide their way!  
I smile with these great gifts all by my side,  
Drink deep the cup of joy that can’t be bought,  
And thank each night the love that Fate has wrought.

“It’s beautiful!” Roman gasped, exciting a round of shushing from their castmates and cohorts backstage. “Well it is,” he insisted.

Virgil could only smile and hope the darkness hid his blush. “Thank you Roman.”

His soulmate grinned. “But I don’t know why there’s so much dark clouds and drama,” he added. “All your poems hint at this huge sadness or something bad happening.”

“All poets are moody,” Virgil shrugged, trying to throw off suspicion. “Besides, this one has the sun in it.”

“I do like the sun,” Roman agreed, and Virgil couldn’t help but giggle. “What, what is it? What’s so funny about me liking the sun?”

Virgil took a moment to compose himself before whispering back, “You are the sun. In my metaphor. My parents are the moon and stars.”

Roman looked from the poem on his arm to Virgil and back again a few times over. “I’m the sun?” he asked. “I’m the sun? Omigod you think I’m like the sun?”

“Don’t be weird about it,” Virgil insisted as more of their castmates started to stare.

“But I’m the sun,” Roman went on. “You think I like brighten your day and stuff enough to write a whole flipping poem where I’m the sun. Me, a literal ray of sunshine, compared to the sun!”

“Roman shhh!” he pleaded, to no avail.

“I’m the sun, I’m the sun, I’m the sunshiny sun, sun, sun!” Roman was practically singing now.

Virgil sighed. “Geez, what does it take to get you to shut up?”

“I dunno William Shakes-punk,” Roman teased, “why don’t you think of something?”

“You’re insufferable,” said Virgil, but he didn’t mean it. Watching the barb detract from Roman’s goofy mood was too much for him, and before Virgil could stop himself he had closed what little gap there was between them and pressed their lips together like they were made to be that way. For a split-second Virgil thought they really were meant to be that way.

Then someone laughed, outright guffawed at the sight. And Virgil remembered that there were at least twelve other people backstage and Mrs. Crawford in the audience and a chorus of would-be mermaids onstage and all of them could potentially be watching him kiss his soulmate for the first time, which he probably wasn’t doing right in the first place, and what if Roman hadn’t wanted to be kissed yet, and now it wasn’t special, and oh God—

“Virgil?” Roman was gently squeezing his shoulders, holding Virgil close like he might break. “I know I’m amazing but I never expected to leave a wordsmith speechless.”

Virgil laughed a quiet, broken laugh and assured him, “I’m fine Romano. Don’t let your head get too big now.”

Roman was about to retort when Mrs. Crawford shouted, “Prince, where is my Prince? Is anyone listening to me back there?” He darted back towards the stage with one last furtive glance at Virgil.

The rest of the rehearsal went by without much chance to discuss such notable events. It wasn’t until they were collecting their backpacks that Roman hesitantly asked, “Virgil?”

“Yeah?” Virgil didn’t know what was coming, but he’d learned it was better to face the unbearable rather than put it off.

“Virgil I wanted to, what I mean is, what would you think about, maybe, um…” Roman fiddled with the straps of his backpack, trying very hard to make eye contact. “I liked that, what happened backstage, and I was wondering, since we’re soulmates and everything, if you wanted to maybe kiss me goodbye?”

And suddenly Virgil was the brave one, stepping closer once again and pressing their lips more tenderly together. They really did fit. In fact Virgil had a feeling that no other soulmates in the history of the entire world could fit together as perfectly as he and Roman did, in the far corner of the gym/theatre at Stokes Junior High School.

When he finally pulled away Roman was beaming brighter than any celestial metaphor Virgil could conjure up. “That was awesome,” he said. “That was really awesome.”

“Yeah,” Virgil agreed.

“I like love you and stuff,” Roman promised. “Will you write to me this weekend?”

“Of course,” he replied. “Want help on the math homework?”

“Yeah,” his soulmate heaved a great sigh. “Yeah. Well, um, goodbye Virgil.”

“Goodbye Roman,” and he squeezed Roman’s hand in farewell. They each headed off to different corners of the gym, different exits, and different parking lots, but Virgil caught Roman looking back at him the same time he was looking back at Roman. One day life would change again and they would never have to part for the weekend, but for now life was wonderous enough to let them wave one last lagging goodbye before they faced the world alone.

Virgil was in a dreamy mood as he slipped into Dante’s car. His cousin was too preoccupied air drumming along the dashboard to notice if anything had changed. “Sup little dude,” he shouted over the music.

“Not much,” Virgil shrugged. “Is your band playing this weekend?”

Dante turned down the music as he started the car. “What was that, Verge?”

Virgil stifled a laugh as he repeated himself, “I said is your band playing this weekend?”

“We got a gig Saturday night, and it’s not a church basement this time,” Dante assured him. “You should come, seeing as you wrote half the lyrics.”

Virgil blushed, ever self-conscious about his poetry. “I just changed a couple words is all.”

“That’s not how Kayla tells it,” his cousin laughed. “She says you’re a little baby genius.”

“I’m not a baby!” Virgil shouted before he could stop himself.

“No, no you ain’t little dude,” Dante replied, his hands raised in mock innocence even as the car rattled onward. “Your soulmate lives in the East Brooke apartments, right?”

“Yeah,” Virgil nodded.

“I’m in the East Grove apartments, not too far off,” his cousin explained. “If you ever wanted a little rendezvous, I could hook you up. He comes to me, I get you to him, whichever works out. How does that sound?”

“Oh,” Virgil blinked. The world was certainly changing around him. “Um, thanks Dante.”

“No problem little dude,” Dante smiled as they turned toward the Garcia garage. “Just hook me up with the gas money and the world is your oyster.”

As Virgil got out of the car, he marveled at just how much life could change in a single day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this is so late, I've been busy with school work and stressed about COVID 19 and just uninspired in general. I hope to return to a more orderly upload schedule for at least the next two weeks while I'm off from university, and we'll have to wait and see what happens from there. Thank you for your patience!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for bearing through all that angst, again please call me out if I've missed any pertinent warnings or if I should put them in the tags. Comments are appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


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